Sunday: Worship Gornesti, Filpisu Mic, Reghin, and Apalina

Sundays with Adel and Attila is an adventure in moving. We left for Gornesti at 9:30 a.m. Gornesti is a strong, new church with great excitement and fellowship of both Hungarians and Gypsies worshipping and serving together. There is so much enthusiasm when they come together. We celebrated the Lord’s Supper together in Gornesti in the morning. Zozo led the morning prayer time. I personally love this time when all the church is together praying. Zozo shared from the Bible and then there were times of prayer and singing. After the worship service, we had lunch with Miklos and Theresa in Gornesti. They are a great couple and leaders in the Gornesti mission work.

We then picked up Tihamer and went to Filpisu Mic for a 2:30 p.m. meeting. Filpisu Mic is a farming village that “you have to want to go to.” The village is far off the main road and to me, seems isolated. The Filpisu Mic church was the first in the area and the mother church of all the Baptist churches in the area. Today, there are three members left. They meet in a farm house, and I am always amazed at how much they know about what is happening in the world and in the mission. They are always praying for the needs of the mission and the world. These three always bless my life when I worship with them.

After worship in Filpisu Mic, we left for the Reghin church for worship at 4 p.m. Reghin is the “center” of the mission work in the area. This is the home church for Attila and Adel’s work. The church is small and stays about the same. There is a growing group of young people in the Reghin church. Pray for Attila, Adel, and the Reghin church because it seems some of them are moving to other areas in search of work. Attila is praying about how to have a greater impact in Reghin. As the older members are not able to be involved in the mission and the younger ones move, Attila is always challenged to strengthen the mission in Reghin. As you saw from the previous blog, this summer, after saving for many years, members were able to renovate the church.

Our final visit was to the Apalina mission between 5:30 and 6 p.m. No need to describe Apalina because you saw it in the previous blog. The Apalina mission is the most challenging. When we arrive, we talk and begin to sing. People start coming in and by 6 p.m. the building is packed with people. They love to sing and they are so attentive to the message. There is a great hunger in Apalina. There are so many problems in the community and life is a struggle especially for the believers in the community. After the service, like each of the other services today, there was a lot of praying with the people about specific needs.

I am struck by the uniqueness of each church or mission. The people are different and the churches are different. Each has its unique challenges and blessings. Nowhere do I experience more diversity in worship and “church personality” as here.

We arrived home about 8 p.m. The house was of full of young people from Reghin. No time to unwind, it was time to play some games together. About 10:30 p.m., the games broke up and a great day of worshipping the Lord and celebrating His life in us as the Body of Christ ended. I have to tell you that I was tired. I thank God for the blessing and opportunity to worship in each of the services.